One of the main challenges in the engineering of nanomachines, besides the difficulties to fabricate complex nanometric objects, is how to power them. The application of external fields is a common and easy way to actuate relatively large machines. However, when the size of the machines becomes smaller, the transfer of power from the macroscopic scale to the nanoscale becomes problematic. Therefore, the development of fully autonomous nanoscale systems which can self-generate their required power is very desirable. Biological systems are the source of numerous examples of natural micro/nanoscale autonomous motors. The conversion of chemical energy into directional motion is the key point behind the high efficient nanofactory of biomolecular machines. Therefore there is a high interest to create novel artificial machines which can self-propel and perform autonomous activities in a similar way the impressive molecular machinery does in living organisms. Many research activities have recently focused on chemically powered motors and micropumps based on the local self-generation of gradients.
The present research work deals with the catalytic micropump concept which was reported for the first time in 2005. A catalytic micropump is an active system which has the capability of triggering electrohydrodynamic phenomena due to an (electro)chemical reaction taken place on a micro/nano bimetallic structure. Although catalytic devices have been the subject of previous reports in which their nanotechnological applications have started to be demonstrated, the mechanism of the chemo-mechanical actuation has been less studied. That is in part due to the complex interrelation between the catalytic reactions and the electro-hydrodynamic phenomena. As a consequence there is still a number of intriguing questions that require further investigation for establishing the role played by the different processes and for achieving a better understanding of the mechanism behind them. Therefore, the research was focused on the full characterization of the chemomechanical actuation and the understanding of the main physicochemical factors governing the operating mechanism of Au-Pt bimetallic micropumps in presence of hydrogen peroxide fuel. The investigations were supported not only by experimental findings but also by numerical simulations. These fundamental studies are of high importance not only for catalytic micropumps but also for other autonomous micro/nano swimmers or active self-propelled colloids. The studies were also extended to other bimetallic structures (Au-Ag, Au-Ru, Au-Rh, Cu-Ag, Cu-Ni, Ni-Ru and Ni-Ag) and to semiconductor/metallic structures (p-doped Si/Pt, n-doped Si/Pt) to evaluate their potentialities as catalytic micropumps in presence of the same chemical fuel. In the last case photoactivation of the catalytic reactions can be accomplished which provides an added value to these pumps as novel photochemical-electrohydrodynamic switches. These achievements can open new and promising research activities in the field of catalytic actuators and nanomotors. The thesis work also describes one of the potential applications of these active devices which is related to the autonomous material guiding and self-assembly on particular locations of a sample. That allows fabricating nanostructured surfaces in an autonomous way with potential nanotechnological impact in a wide range of fields.